The men watched as all three women froze, and then they seemed to deflate before their eyes.
“What if I would like my girl to sit with me?” Gage asked.
Brylee shook her head. “I don’t want to be a nuisance, da … Gage.”
“What makes you think that?” Gage asked her gently.
“Us girls talked, and we don’t want you to get sick of us, so we are going to try to be more mature and less needy.”
Gage’s brows snapped down. “Where did you get that?”
“From Larkin,” the other two girls said.
“What did Larkin say?” Darian asked as he watched Larkin giggle. She tried but failed to hide behind the other two.
“She said Kaleb didn’t want a needy little, so I’m going to try not to be like that.”
“And we decided we should be less needy, too,” Brylee pipped up. “We don’t want you guys to throw us away.”
Agitated, Kaleb ran a hand down his face. All three girls had come from foster care and hadn’t had an easy time of it. He vaguely remembered when he had said that months before and how Larkin had overheard him. He thought they were past it after she tried to run away after. He knew Darian had punished and then loved the woman until she couldn’t walk for a few days without feeling the ache from the fucking he’d given her.
“Is that why you’re calling us by our names?” Darian asked.
All three girls nodded.
“We’re big girls. I mean, mature women,” Larkin told him.
“But what if I want my little the way she is and have her call me daddy and want to sit with me all the time?” Gage asked patiently and then held a hand out to Brylee.
Brylee sniffed and struggled out of the chair. She fell on all fours, tripping over her own feet.
Gage went to stand to get her but heard her giggling and then start crawl over to him. She climbed up into his lap, almost pinching his balls with her knee, and wrapped her arms around him.
“I won’t change if that’s what you want, daddy.”
Gage stood with her in his arms. “I’m taking my girl to bed so she can sleep this off. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
The
other four watched Gage carry her out.
Darian’s gaze landed on his girl. “Larkin, it would make me very sad if you changed. I love you just the way you are, and I get lonely when you’re not on my lap.”
Larkin gasped and then stood, grabbing onto the chair to steady herself before walking to where Darian sat. She plopped down in his lap and tried to kiss him but lost her balance and fell back in his arms, and her lips landed on his shoulder.
Darian sighed, set his glass down, and lifted her into his arms. “I’m taking her to bed. Night.”
Kaleb waited until the two were gone before he turned back to Aleena. He cleared the emotion that clogged his throat when he saw her leaning sideways in the chair and tears running down her cheeks.
He stood and gathered her in his arms. He shushed her when she tried to talk. “Let’s get into bed so I can talk to you.”
Aleena nodded and tightened her arms around his neck.
Chapter Sixteen
Kaleb laid Aleena on the mattress and quickly undressed her before himself. He moved her until they were both lying down with their heads on the pillows and facing each other.
Kaleb wiped the tears that continued to fall from Aleena’s eyes.